AUSTIN, Texas — Dozens of school districts, including some in Central Texas, are suing the Texas Education Agency (TEA) over its accountability system. They're asking for a temporary injunction to stop the agency from assigning performance ratings to schools.
During a Tuesday hearing at the 419th Civil District Court in Downtown Austin, several witnesses took the stand, including four superintendents, a consultant who works with Texas school districts on accountability and assessment issues and two TEA commissioners.
In their opening statements, plaintiff attorneys stressed that the school districts believe in accountability, but said they did not get any information on the new methods that would be used to give them their performance ratings.
Dee Carney, a consultant with Hillco Partners, works with Texas public schools on accountability and said the current chaos around the ratings disproportionately impacts the highest-need students, saying they need consistency in the system.
In August, Del Valle ISD joined the lawsuit, calling it an "easy decision." Superintendent Dr. Annette Tielle is proud of the district's progress and that its accountability rating has risen from a "D" to a "B."
"My fear that if this lawsuit doesn't move forward in the way that we hope, that our students and teachers will have a rating that is not indicative of their growth and performance and that is not a representation of who they are," Tielle said.
Two TEA commissioners took the stand, saying they expect the proposed changes to come out in the fall.
At the end of the hearing, a judge determined both parties will brief the issue further and the judge will make a ruling by Oct. 20th or thereafter, but it should not take longer than the end of the month.